Mon Petit Chocolat

I am shocked to see no tasting note from me on this one! This is to fulfill Mastress Alita’s November Sipdown Challenge prompt – a tea the flavor of a favorite sundae topping.

This tea was a gift from my eldest, Superanna, who always blesses me with marvelous teas!

I chose chocolate because my first real ice cream sundae was decades ago at Farrell’s Ice Cream Parlor. They brought your sundae in a tulip glass with a small metal cup on the side that was filled with thick, rich, hot fudge for you to pour over it when ready. I had never had anything like it! (When I was a child, we made chocolate ice cream topping by adding a tiny few drops of hot water to Nestlé Quik. I still think that is delicious, too!)

The chocolate flavor of this tea is very similar to my well-loved O’Connor’s Cream, a tea that was gifted to me by White Antlers. The base of both of these teas seems a little smoky or roasty to me, which is perfect with the rich, dark chocolate flavor. This does not taste like a milk chocolate candy bar, but rather like the cocoa notes of cacao nibs, or the chocolate notes in carob and coffee, rather scrape-y and rough and rich. I love it.

I wonder if this is a Keemun base? It surely tastes like one to me.

This is one of the first teas that I tried from the #svttb. Prior to receiving the box, I had only tried a blend or two from Dammann Freres from a swap with my friend Cameron and I haven’t had any complaints so far. I am so genuinely impressed with this blend, normally chocolate teas are hit or miss for me, and this one crossed off every box perfectly. It’s sweet, malty, rich, and packed with dark chocolate flavor with a hint of rose and marzipan.

Beautiful. Fine chocolate ganache, intense almond. Very much beautifully executed chocolate almond truffle.

Drank it with no additions.

I would not mind having this one around.

Dammann Frères Advent 2021 – Day 6

Decent almond chocolate tea. The aroma is in silky praline/mousse territory. “Chickpea Nutella” dessert comes to mind (so good, like all chickpea things). However, like all liquid almond things, I find this a bit thin. Almond may be my least favourite nut. I look at Mon Petit Praliné sitting over there, and its glorious hazelnut profile, and wish I had that instead, so..

Steep Count: 2

After being dissatisfied with the other chocolate teas I’ve had lately, I figured I would give this one a try. This is from my recent Dammann order, I added it in partially because of the cute tin, and partially because the combination of chocolate, almond, and biscuit sounded so tasty.

Hmm. It has a nice aroma with chocolate and marzipan, but it’s not really translating to the taste for me. Mostly I just taste a generic base tea and a little bit of amaretto flavor…

I wonder if I’m doing something wrong with these Dammann teas, as I had a similar blandness problem with another tea that I just bought. Perplexing.

Reserving judgment until I’ve tried this with some other steeping parameters… :(

2021 sipdown no. 64

Sad sipdown of this this evening. We went on a wee drive to get some fresh air and I had just steeped this when we decided on the drive, so I poured it in my ceramic travel mug and off we went.

This is definitely one I made a mistake not putting in my most recent order, but alas, it will go in the next. The biscuit and chocolate flavour is so perfectly balanced and light, yet apparent. Just delightful.

Sipdown (279)

I was feeling a bit off today and I think perhaps my body got used to a little bit of caffeine since I’ve been in quarantine and this is my first cup.

I literally grabbed this so I could get a quick up of caffeine and also a sipdown. Alas, I really don’t like it. I am mostly getting the black base tea which is not my favorite. There is a muddiness to it which I think is intended to be the chocolate but it’s not really doing it for me.

Advent day 22! I was dubious when I saw this one. Chocolate teas are very hit or miss, but this one absolutely knocks it out of the park. It has sweet, caramel notes and just a bit of chocolate. It’s not chalky or synthetic tasting like so many chocolate teas tend to be. Really tasty and smooth.

Sipdown (721)!

One of the free samples from my DF order – and honestly something I likely wouldn’t have bought for myself, but I’m glad it was included because I thought this was actually really incredible! DF blends have this amazing ability to really nail their intended flavours (more often than not) while still feeling more delicate/refined and allowing the base teas to come through really well – and this is an excellent example of that.

The chocolate note is there but it’s much less intense than you would get from a more North American style of chocolate tea. They’re silky and velvety while still having the richness of a really nice, high quality chocolate. The other main note here is the “praline” which is sweet and nutty, kind of like a praline or almond brittle? You experience the chocolate note first – very smooth and graceful, and then it transitions into more of this sweet nuttyness. It reminds me a bit of a very nice, fancy “praline truffle” kind of thing you might get from a box of very high end French chocolates. It’s so nice, but most importantly you also get the black tea at the same time!

I enjoyed this a lot – it’s like the more grown up version of DT’s Chocolate Covered Almond, and while both are good and have a purpose this is something I think I could find myself drinking more often. Thanks DF for including it!

Dammann Frères Advent 2021 – Day 6
I make this amaretto chocolate torte and this tea always makes me think of it. But while I make my torte with rich dark chocolate, this tea is all about smooth milk chocolate. But I still get the delicious almond mixed in there which I love and the feeling that I’m drinking a delicious dessert.

My torte is heaven for chocolate lovers, but much too rich and concentrated for anyone else. This tea is in a different lane. It’s light, silky, and soft-spoken. It’s delicate. Less “in-your-face chocolate” and more almond chocolate ganache. It took me a few times to fall in love with it but now I love it!